Pros and Cons of Google Analytics

By now at some point during your business-owner saga, you have heard a thing or two about Google Analytics. Whether you utilize it or not, there are pros and cons to everything, including Google Analytics. So are you on the fence about harnessing your Google Analytics skills? Here are some common pros and cons to help you decide how to move forward.

Pros on Google Analytics

Easy to Create

No stress involved here. I think sometimes the word “analytics” can send people into a tailspin, but Google Analytics is very user friendly. This wasn’t created for the super techies alike, but rather for any user no matter the field. Google Analytics offers a wide variety of widgets, charts and layouts to help you hit the ground running.

World Champion Time-Saver

There’s no need to dig through multiple amounts of files to piece together a report anymore. All you need to do is login to your Google Analytics account, change your time frame and you instantly have a new report that you need to see.

Sharing is Caring (and easy)

If someone has access to the account, you can easily share your reports. I know what you’re asking – what if someone doesn’t have access to the account? Fear not, you can download your reports to PDFs and then share them with anyone you like.

Coolest Widgets in Town

Sometimes, dashboards (while they do answer questions) sometimes they can present more questions. In Google Analytics you are able to link within each widget to the report the data came from. That way, if you are presented with a question, all you need to do is click within deeper to find what you’re looking for.

The Helping Hand

Need help getting started? No worries! Google Analytics has a solutions gallery containing dashboards and tips from other Google Analytics users.

Cons of Google Analytics

Customizations are Limited

In some way, Google Analytics is customizable, but only to an extent. You are allowed to customize your layouts, sizes, which metrics you want, etc. You are limited in the visuals. You cannot get the visuals of your dashboard to match the branding of your company. You won’t be able to change the already decided colors, fonts and table layouts.

Limited Widgets

You can only have 12 widgets for every dashboard. Need more than that? You could always make another dashboard to utilize more widgets, but that could get annoying going back and forth between two dashboards.

PDF Only Download

PDF is the only format at this time that you are able to download your reports. This is a bummer when you need to include a report in a presentation. The only way to include it is to import the PDF and then try to fix the formatting so it “looks good” in your presentation.

IronRock to the Rescue

If you are still unsure about Google Analytics dashboards, here’s another solution: US! Here at IronRock we are equipped with the tools needed to create clean and informative dashboards. We offer everything Google Analytics does including more freedom to your customizations. We can design dashboards that coincide with your brand and include all the widgets you need. Don’t wait, schedule an appointment with IronRock today!